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‘We all need support’ By Steve Boyarsky Nov 13, 2022 12:45 AM A A Dr. Kerri Hecox co-founded Oasis Center of the Rogue Valley.[Jamie Lusch / Mail Tribune] Editor’s note: Community Builder is a periodic Q& A series providing perspectives from local people involved in significant change in Southern Oregon. Today’s conversation is with Dr. Kerri Hecox, co-founder of Oasis Center of the Rogue Valley. Q: The stated mission of Oasis is to ‘transform the lives of families in recovery through integrated social and medical services.’ How do you accomplish this? Kerri: Our approach is to build relationships with people struggling with substance use disorders and be committed to an ongoing relationship with them. Trust in any relationship is central. Creating a feeling of safety for families who may have had not had good experiences with the medical system is important. We want to create a welcoming environment where patients and their families feel at ease and are genuinely listened to and respected. Q: Are substance use disorders a medical issue? Kerri: Yes, but substance use disorders have many complex social components in addition to a medical diagnosis. Substance use disorders are truly a brain disease — they make people think and act differently than they otherwise would. Addiction affects deep parts of the brain that are integral to our survival circuity. When addiction takes over, a person is operating in ‘survival mode.’ Addiction dupes a person’s brain into believing it is constantly in a desperate situation. People do things that aren’t aligned with their values when they’re desperate. The stigma of addiction derives from people doing things that they wouldn’t do if the addiction wasn’t in control. Treating addiction lets a person get back to their ‘real self’ who can make choices aligned with their beliefs and values. Addiction often robs people of this ability. Q: What results have you seen? Kerri: Addiction is a treatable disorder; I can’t overstate this. I’ve had patients for nine years and have watched them go from deep in their addiction, to successfully parenting, having a stable job and buying their own house. Three of our employees are former patients. We’ve seen so many people transform their lives and get back to their ‘true selves.’ So much of what makes people vulnerable to addiction is the combination of adverse experiences, trauma and a lack of social support and connections. When people feel valued and connected, they can heal from trauma and learn to value themselves. No one in their ‘thinking brain’ wants to be trapped in addiction. Human beings are social creatures — we all want to be a positive part of the world, and creating a space where people can do this is important. Q: How do you characterize addiction? Kerri: I think of people reaching out of addiction for help as ‘surfacing.’ If somebody is deep into their addiction and they ask for help, it means they are making a huge effort — addiction is difficult to fight. If they are reaching up, and you can’t grab them ... they go under. Our hope is to have the ability and resources to grab that hand when it’s there. We want to help people move to a safer place where they can stay above water and breathe on their own. Q: What drew you to work with patients in recovery? Kerri: I started my career at La Clinica when I moved here in 2005. Then I became the child abuse medical examiner for the Children’s Advocacy Center. I saw the correlation between parents with substance use disorders and diminished protective capacity for their kids. Almost everybody loves their kids and wants them to be safe, but when you’re using drugs or alcohol, you don’t have the same perception of what is safe. I wanted to move upstream and start working on some of the core problems that were preventing parents from being as protective as they might otherwise be. Q: What have you learned working with patients with addiction and recovery issues? Kerri: I’ve learned that you don't know who someone is when they’re in their addiction. When I first meet a patient struggling with addiction, that is not the real person. That’s how to talk to people about their addiction. So many people hate themselves because of addiction; they believe they are bad people. It’s important for them to understand that addiction is not who they are; it’s a brain disease. It’s like having to pull out a parasite to get back to themselves and their values. You can’t judge a person when they are in a desperate situation, in that survival mode. I have to suspend judgment and give them support and some time. That doesn’t mean supporting bad behaviors; it means believing the person is different than that behavior and that people are capable of growth and change. Q: Why is this work important? Kerri: It’s important because families are important! Many times, thinking about addiction, we only consider the individual. If they’re a parent, their use has waves that radiate out and affect everyone around them, particularly their children. The instability that can be created in children can affect their entire lives. The brain from 0 to 3 is changing so quickly. What happens during that time makes a huge difference in how a child will develop 10 or 20 years later. Older children are clearly very affected by a parent’s use, but the crazy thing about the effect on very young children is that it literally changes how their brain develops. So if we can get parents to a stable place, their child has a better chance of growing up to be a successful and happy adult. Q: Are you hopeful that substance abuse issues can be eliminated or decreased? Kerri: I don’t want to get too political, but with drug decriminalization, Measure 110, and the overwhelming influx of fentanyl into our community, we have a lot of difficulties. This tidal wave of fentanyl has been very destructive. Our overdose rate has more than doubled in the last year. Doubled! The average age of death from overdose is 40 years old. We have lost far more potential years of life to drug overdose than we have to COVID. We don't have enough residential treatment, our detox capacity is low and so is access to the methadone clinic. There are so many systems issues. I don’t believe Measure 110 has been a positive thing for Oregon. I don’t believe in putting people in jail for substance use disorders, but we need to be able to intervene sooner and more effectively to save lives. Q: Does Southern Oregon have more of an issue with substance abuse than other areas in the state? Kerri: Yes, the overdose deaths are concentrated in the Portland metro area, and then it’s us in Southern Oregon. Q: And why? Do you know? Kerri: I don’t know. I don’t know. Q: Oasis recently moved into a new building. Kerri: We’re excited about our new building across the street from Hawthorne Park. This neighborhood has a lot of opportunity and a lot of challenges. We’re hoping that we will be able to have a positive impact in the community. Max’s Mission is a fantastic harm-reduction agency ... moving into our complex, and we are partnering with OnTrack to provide emergency housing for pregnant women. We will be able to provide prenatal care, substance use treatment and peer support all within steps. Q: How did you come to call Southern Oregon your home? Kerri: By accident ... well, not really. My husband, Douglas, and I finished our medical training in North Carolina and wanted to come back West; we’re both originally from Colorado. We were thinking Seattle or Portland. Douglas was offered a job interview in Medford. We weren’t thinking about Southern Oregon, but we thought we would just come down, do the job interview, see a couple Shakespeare Festival plays and drive back. His practice, Renal Care Consultants, put us up at the Jacksonville Inn. We immediately loved Jacksonville; it was so charming. While Douglas was at his interview, I was driving around the Valley and saw La Clinica. I literally walked in and said, ‘Hey, do you guys need another doctor?’ It seems funny now. La Clinica’s medical director, Paul Mayer, came out to talk to me. It all just worked out. We live in Jacksonville and love it. Q: What do you love about living here? Kerri: I love the access to the outdoors: hiking, biking and paddleboarding on the Rogue. I love Jacksonville as a place to raise our kids. The Jacksonville Elementary school musical is a town event — everybody comes. Before COVID, over a thousand people come to see an elementary musical at Britt — now that is amazing! Halloween in Jacksonville is magical, hundreds of kids out walking on the streets; that doesn’t exist other places. There is a real community here. Q: What are you grateful for? Kerri: I’m grateful for the staff at Oasis. I feel blessed with the people who have chosen to work with me. Without our executive director, Kristen Johnson, there is no way we would be here. When we moved into our new building, there was so much to do. People stayed late and came in on the weekends to help. It touched me more than I can put into words. I’m also deeply grateful to the Oregon Community Foundation Reed and Carolee Walker Fund and to the Addictions Recovery Center, particularly Lori Paris. Both of those organizations took a chance on Oasis when we were first starting, and without that leap of faith on their part, we would not have been able to start the clinic. Q: What’s clearer to you than ever before? Kerri: Our tagline at Oasis Clinic is ‘more than a clinic, a community.’ Having strong social supports makes a difference in people’s lives. As a country, we tend to focus on individuals rather than community or family systems. People really need support systems to feel cared about and important. Individuals fall into addiction because they feel alone and unimportant. Humans don’t do well in isolation and loneliness. We all need support. About Oasis Center Oasis Center of the Rogue Valley was founded in 2019 by physician Kerri Hecox and early childhood specialist Mary-Curtis Gramley to address the community need to support parents with substance use disorders and their young children. Oasis Center is an innovative health center integrated with other community service providers, including Early Childhood Intervention, Nurse-Family Partnership, employment services and self-sufficiency (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) so patients can receive real-time assistance on site in conjunction with medical care. Oasis provides comprehensive medical care to parents and children, mental health counseling, peer support, child watch and parenting support to families battling substance use disorders. In January, Oasis will begin providing emergency housing for pregnant women with substance use disorders in collaboration with OnTrack. More information can found at oasiscenterroguevalley.org. Call 541-200-1530. Steve Boyarsky is a retired educator and longtime resident of the Rogue Valley. He continues to be involved in educational and youth programs.